It's hard to make a more perfect pass than the one Quinn Hughes conjured up to assist Conor Garland's game-opening goal.

Hughes is making a strong case to win his second straight award given to the best defenseman in the NHL. He leads the Canucks into Enterprise Center to face the St. Louis Blues on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, Prime) off a two-goal performance in a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

The Vancouver Canucks are trying to contend for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024. The Canucks stood atop the summit of the Pacific Division in 2023-24 while making it within a game of the Western Conference Finals.

The five-foot-10 blue-liner won the Norris Trophy for the NHL's best defenseman in 2023-24, and with half of this season in the books, he's making another case for himself. Throughout all of the turmoil that the Vancouver Canucks have endured, Hughes' numbers have remained consistent.

Records, it is said, are made to be broken. And as Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s magical mark of 894 made its way through Vancouver on Saturday night, there is another goal-scoring chase that deserves some attention.

Defenseman Quinn Hughes is doing his best to keep the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference playoff chase.

On Saturday night in Vancouver, the Canucks were somewhat soundly outplayed in the opening 20 minutes but managed to come out of the first period thanks to some misses at the goal mouth from Tom Wilson, Matt Roy and Lars Eller and thanks to one of the most absurd individual offensive efforts you’ll see all season from a blueliner.

The Canucks hadn't won back-to-back games since Dec. 1, but looked more like their old selves against the Blues.

In a large scrum during the second period of Thursday night's game, Oilers forward Corey Perry grabbed Hughes and threw him down to the ice. There was little reaction or pushback from the Canucks as their captain was being roughed up.

Lankinen makes 32 saves for Vancouver; Washington loses in regulation for 1st time in 2025 after 12-game point streak

January 26 - Quinn Hughes scored two goals and the Vancouver ... and remains 20 goals from passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the NHL all-time record. Hughes gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 12:23 ...

January 26 - Defenseman Quinn Hughes is doing his best to keep the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference playoff chase. He's scored five goals and earned two assists in his past five games ...